


Seeing

by holyfudgemonkeys (erraticallyinspired)



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Eggsy sees ghosts, Fix-It, Ghosts, M/M, Medium!Eggsy, Pining, basically scenes from the movie and afterwards, eventual hartwin as well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-03-31 06:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3967219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erraticallyinspired/pseuds/holyfudgemonkeys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eggsy Unwin has a talent Harry couldn't read about in his records. </p><p>Eggsy Unwin sees ghosts.</p><p>(A story in drabbles)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. South London Medium

**Author's Note:**

> The chapter title is awful, but I couldn't help myself. I promise this is not crack.
> 
> Also, ghosts talk in italics.

When Harry drops Eggsy off at the recruit dorm for the Lancelot trials, Eggsy has to do his best to ignore the posh bloke wandering around the other recruits. This is the best thing that's happened to him in his life so far, and he's _not_ going to fuck it up by showing how messed up he really is. 

The problem is that ghosts are _fucking everywhere_. 

They also look almost exactly like everyone else, too. It's only through trial and error that he realized the differences and stopped talking to spirits on the streets or in the pub. When he was a kid, it was excusable. Imaginary friends weren't odd until you got older, and thankfully most of them understand that and let him be if there are others around. _Some_ won't leave him alone.

It isn't all bad, though. As he tried to tell his mum when he was eight, his dad was one of those. (That, of course, didn't go over well. She sobbed and sent him to his room, which made him _and_ Lee cry, even though he'd never seen his dad so much as frown before. Eggsy never talked about it again.) Lee was there when he decided to quit gymnastics, when he left the Marines, when he took the bad beatings for his mum. He keeps him company. He encourages him.

He's the reason Eggsy even trusted Harry, honestly. Lee smiled when he saw the man leaning against the wall, and although it disappeared when Harry talked about how much of a disappointment Eggsy was ( _'M very proud, Eggsy. Don' forget that_ , he said firmly, his hand hovering over his son's shoulder), it was back when the man took out Dean's goons ( _Watch this_ , he whispered gleefully). Even at the shop earlier, Lee looked at Harry fondly during his recruitment speech.

Lee _also_ looked at Merlin fondly, Eggsy notes. 

_A good man_ , Lee says when he catches him looking. _Tough bastard, but 'e means well_.

Eggsy then glances meaningfully over at the other ghost, who is already looking at him.

 _James, codename Lancelot_ , Lee says as the ghost walks over, and isn't this fucking weird? At least the man doesn't look at him the way the other recruits do.

 _Lee_ , Lancelot says warmly. His lips don't quite match up, and Eggsy realizes that there's a thin line bisecting the man entirely. _Is this little Eggsy?_

Eggsy twitches.

 _All grown up_ , Lee says wistfully before getting more serious. _'M sorry to see you so soon, old friend._

Then Merlin's calling them to fall in, and Eggsy leaves the ghosts to catch up or whatever ghosts do when he's not around.


	2. G is for Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first task comes without any warning, but Eggsy has a bit of help.

It's the middle of the night and most of the recruits are asleep, but the room is filling with water, and _fuck, what do they do?_

_Breathe, Eggsy,_ his dad says. _Focus._

So he does, going for the door while the others are doing _something_ with the showers, and when that doesn't work he turns around to survey the room. He's in the process of kicking himself off the door to get some momentum going when Lee steps in front of him. Unlike everyone else, the man's hair is perfectly still in the water and his feet as planted on the ground.

_Remember your training, Marine,_ he says firmly. _Remember._

Eggsy frowns. It's not like they taught him what to do _in this exact situation_ , so he just runs through the basics as he takes stock of the room, his lungs aching. 

Amelia. _Fuck._ His eyes widen as he sees her panicking. _Brotherhood._ It was stressed in the training, because you always worked as a team. No matter what, you had each other's backs, so even though he barely knows the girl, he swims over without another thought, grabs her arm, and yanks her over to the others, pushing her down next to Rufus and glaring until the arse shares his air.

Then, with the precious little air of his own he has left, Eggsy anchors himself with the sink and breaks the two-way mirror.

"Good job Roxy, Charlie," Merlin says and explains the toilet trick to all of them as they lay huddled on the ground, soaked. "And you, Eggsy. Good work with the mirror."

Lee is standing behind Merlin, proud. Not even Charlie's following comment is enough to dim the happiness Eggsy feels at all that praise.

Especially not with Merlin glaring at the posh bastard. "As far as I'm concerned, Eggsy is the _only_ one who passed this task. Teamwork is highly important at Kingsman. It often is not only the difference between completing a mission and failing it but also life and death. You need to be able to rely on your teammates, but none of the rest of you even realized Amelia was left behind."

James quirks an eyebrow and says, _Well, Lee's boy wouldn't have either if not for some cheating._

_It ain't cheatin' if you use your gifts_ , Lee says cheerfully. 

The other ghost laughs. _True. I suppose I might have been guilty of the same during our trials._

_Might 'ave?_ Lee snickers. 

Eggsy hides a smile, because he misses seeing his dad like this. Sure, they could talk, but his dad couldn't talk to anyone else really, and it was obvious he was lonely sometimes. Now he's laughing and smiling and more animated that he'd been in years (though he certainly wasn't sad the whole time he was around his son).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was super surprised by the amazing feedback I got for the first chapter, so I'm definitely writing more of this AU! Hopefully the chapters will come at least every other day. I need to rewatch the film first to make a better outline...


	3. Puppies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy and the others pick their puppies.

Amelia gives him a hug the next morning just before she leaves. She didn't do well under pressure, Merlin said, and that was something a Kingsman needed to be able to do.

"It still sucks," Eggsy grumbles into her hair, because she and Roxy are the only ones who don't look down on him, and even though he really doesn't give a fuck what the others think, it's nice to have some friends around. (He's confident, though, that the other girl will make it far in the trials.)

"Don't worry about me, Eggsy," she says and pulls away to say goodbye to Roxy. "Maybe we'll see each other again one day."

_Listen to the lady_ , James says from his place on Eggsy's bed. The posh bastard is sitting all elegant-like on the head of it, while Lee is cross-legged at the opposite end.

_Don' give it away now_ , Lee says to his friend, laughing.

Eggsy shakes his head, because he knows if he asks, his dad's just going to dance around the answer until he gives up. Not that he has any damn privacy in this room _to_ ask.

"Follow me," Merlin interrupts from the door.

Even Lee and James follow, but instead of wariness like on the faces of the recruits, they both have looks of glee. It makes Eggsy all the more worried. Though he evidently has no reason to feel that way.

The surprise is _puppies_.

He glances over at the ghosts.

_I never got the chance to bring Sting home_ , Lee says sadly. _You always wanted a dog._

_Pick a good breed, little Eggsy,_ James butts in. _I had an English Foxhound. Courageous little thing, Quentin was._

Lee snickers. _Jus' give it a better name, yeah?_

_Like **Sting**?_ James looks thoroughly unimpressed.

Rolling his eyes, Eggsy steps forward with the rest of the group to pick one of the puppies, and he gets the 'bulldog' before anyone else can. It's small, but he's sure JB will grow. They'll be a good team. Like Lee said, he'd always wanted a dog.

"It's a bulldog, innit?" he asks. The rest of the recruits are fucking _laughing_ at him as he stares down at the small pug.

_Well, at least it's cute_ , James says, and Eggsy wants to give him the finger, but he's not going to get kicked out for looking insane over a dog.

_Very_ , Lee says. He's crouched down in front of little JB, his hand hovering just over the pup's fur. The dog stares back curiously. Lee grins. JB yips.

The rest of the dogs look over.

And Eggsy remembers exactly why he stopped asking his mum for a pet -- animals are very sensitive. They can sense ghosts. Ghosts loved flocking to Eggsy.

_Fuck._

The first to do anything is Roxy's poodle, who trots closer to him and sniffs around James just standing behind him. James smiles gently at the dog.

_It's not surprising to see Percy's candidate choose a good breed. She's quite right about poodles_ , he says.

Then Charlie's German Shepard is pawing at where Lee is still crouched down and barking louder and louder as his paws go right through the man. 

"Charlie," Merlin says firmly. "Control your dog. If it eats Eggsy's, you'll be disqualified."

_Fuck_ , Eggsy's face is burning, and he's _sure_ he's a splotchy red. 

Lee and James, of course, are laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Lee's dog was named Sting. In one of my other fics, I wrote that he used to sing The Police's songs to Eggsy when Eggsy was young, so I had to name the dog that ;)
> 
> Hopefully I'll get another chapter up this weekend! I still haven't gotten a chance to rewatch the movie yet, though, and I have plans both days. By the latest, there'll be another chapter up on Monday.


	4. Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Lee gossip about a mission they've heard of.

The problem with the dogs is that _they won't stop staring at the ghosts_. Sure, they've stopped barking ( _thankfully_ ), but they're still wary for the most part. Only JB and Roxy's poodle seem to like the two men.

Though that might be because those two dogs are the only ones _James and Lee_ seem to like.

_Percy always was a practical man_ , James says. _It makes sense that he'd pick a good candidate._

_'N Harry ain't practical?_ Lee says. 

_Harry Hart put two recruits and the head of the tech department in danger_ , James says dryly.

_Yeah? Never said 'e wasn't forgetful. 'Sides, 'e was my sponsor, 'n I saved all of ya._

James smiles sadly. _True, and I'll always be in your debt for that, friend. I'm not saying little Eggsy isn't a good candidate, just that his sponsor... well, Harry's a good agent, but he didn't seem to learn anything from that day. Not from what I've heard._

Although he's been listening, Eggsy wasn't _really_ hearing anything they said until that point. He glances at the ghost as subtly as he can. There's too many people around to talk, unfortunately, so he just wills the damn man to understand. What's he heard?

Lee grimaces when he sees Eggsy's interest. _I was hopin' Merlin'd tell ya._

Eggsy sits up straighter. It's so fucking hard to keep his face neutral when they won't _get to the point_.

Especially since James looks somewhat ashamed.

"Are you okay, Eggsy?" 

"Huh?" he says, turning around to see Roxy. His face burns a little, and he makes a note to be more careful about paying attention to his surroundings when he's listening to the ghosts.

She sits down on the bed next to him. "You know, pugs aren't a bad breed. If that's what you're worried about."

" _Wot?_ " 

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see James' shoulders shaking with laughter and his dad grinning. 

"They can be very good watchdogs with the right training. Quite an affectionate breed, too."

"Thanks?" he says, looking bewildered at the puppy at the foot of his bed.

JB keeps licking himself.

Roxy smiles at Eggsy. "I'm going to go to the library to do some studying then. If you want to join me."

"Yeah, sure," he says and waves as she leaves. 

The looks on the ghosts' faces when he turns back to them makes it clear they figured he'd be too distracted to remember what they were talking about, which only serves to make him more stressed about it.

Lee sits down where Roxy just was, puts an arm around Eggsy's shoulders.

Although there's no actual physical sensation, the knowledge of what his dad's trying to do comforts him. He steels himself for whatever they're going to tell him.

_Earlier_ , James starts, _I heard that Galahad's last mission went a little... wrong. Something blew up in his face. He made it out, but he's in the medical ward in a coma._

Eggsy's up and out the door immediately, absentmindedly shrugging off the arm that isn't really there as he tries to find Harry.

_Perhaps **you** should have told him_ , James says to Lee after Eggsy's gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Roxy didn't come off as OOC! For some reason I don't write her a lot in my fics, and this one will naturally have a good deal of her in it.


	5. Shortcuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy studies. Or tries to.

Sometimes Eggsy studies with Roxy. It's been years since he had to study _anything_ , but he's smart and willing to put in the effort and do this for his dad ( _and for Harry_ , Lee cheekily reminds him, which only makes him more frustrated that he doesn't even have the privacy to make a face in response. He spends a lot of time by Harry's side, so what?). So he grabs a few books from the shelves and sits on one of the couches in the middle of the room. He makes notes, he practices equations, and he listens when she gives him a tip.

Most of all, he learns to really enjoy her company.

When he's at home he has Ryan and Jamal and the ghosts, but even then he can't ever _really_ relax. Not with the threat of Dean and his goons over his head. But here -- here he finds himself relaxing in the library with her. The other recruits are gone, working out in the gym or training their dogs, so it's just them. Even Dean can't touch him here, and Lee leaves occasionally to make sure the bastard isn't hurting his mum or sis, so that worry doesn't weigh down on him much. He doesn't frett about Harry here, either. There's just something about _whatever_ is developing between him and Roxy that makes him feel so damn comfortable, makes him forget that Harry might not wake up.

The only thing is that James is still hanging around, too.

_There's a shorter way to do that, you know_ , the ghost says, leaning over his shoulder.

He wants to make a crack about shortcuts and getting it done right and perhaps even about how maybe the man _who got sliced in half_ shouldn't be telling him how to do his maths, but Roxy's a few feet away. (Besides, he didn't even learn this stuff in school unlike the intangible posh bastard next to him. How the fuck is he supposed to know any shortcut?)

Roxy, as if sensing his irritation, looks up. "Is something the matter, Eggsy?"

He frowns and bites down on his pride. "Ain't there a shorter way to do this?"

"What is it?" she says, moving closer. "Ah, yes, the shortcut's much easier. Let me show you."

James looks smug.

When Roxy turns back to her own studying, he stubbornly ignores the ghost as he scribbles out the equations again.

_You copied the wrong number, little Eggsy._

He stops for a moment, then fixes it. _Without_ acknowledging James.

_Remember the steps she told you._

He glances back at the small list Roxy penned in the corner of his paper before going back to the problem.

_Are you really going to ignore me for the rest of the day?_ James says, and the fucker sounds amused.

He keeps working.

_Little Eggsy?_

He twitches.

_I'm just trying to help_ , James says innocently.

_Are ya now?_ Lee cuts in, appearing suddenly, and before long the two are bickering playfully, annoying Eggsy who's just trying to study, _dammit._

"'M goin' back to the room, Rox'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do some scenes that weren't in the movie (like this one and the one before). Next chapter will likely be about one of the tests we actually see in the movie, though.
> 
> Also, tiny, tiny buildup of hartwin. Lee's mostly just teasing him about liking Harry (in a non romantic way), too. He's not going to be all that comfortable with it when he realizes just how deep Eggsy's feelings are. (Not that Eggsy even realizes that yet. This is definitely slow burn)


	6. In the Med Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is helpful, and Eggsy likes him a little more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little mad at myself for posting this an entire day late :[  
> I plan on posting again late tomorrow, though *resolve face*

He's got a test in the morning, and it's the first written test he's had to do since school (not that he actually _studied_ in school), so he should be sleeping. Or at least going over his notes.

Instead, he's in Harry's room, slumped in the seat next to the bed with JB at his feet.

_Eggsy,_ Lee says softly. _Go sleep._

He shakes his head.

_Lee's right, little Eggsy,_ James interrupts from the doorway. _Even Percy's girl is down for the night_.

He shakes his head again. _Of course,_ he knows Harry isn't going to magically wake up, but even so, it doesn't mean he won't spend his free time keeping the man company.

_I'll wake you up if 'e wakes,_ Lee promises.

Looking up at his dad, Eggsy shakes his head a third time. He's _not_ moving. Maybe Harry gave Lee the same chance he gave Eggsy, but it just isn't the same. Lee was _happy._ Lee had a wife and a child and a group of 'brothers' he'd give his life for, and maybe he couldn't afford to get a wardrobe full of tailored clothes, but he didn't want nor need anything like that. For Lee, Harry's offer was a way to move up.

For Eggsy, Harry's offer was a way to survive.

He was twenty-three years old, unemployed, living at home, and a few confrontations with Dean away from getting beaten _too_ badly, and all of it was for his mum and sis. If he was around, he could bear the brunt of it all. He'd given up his life for them.

Harry offered it back to him. _With_ an upgrade that meant he could get both of his favorite girls away from his monster of a stepfather.

Eggsy couldn't even have dreamed of being so lucky.

James tilts his head. _Tell me, little Eggsy, do you remember how to use the stars to navigate in case of a tech failure?_

_James --_ Lee starts, but Eggsy interrupts him, repeating the question and rattling off the answer. 

_What plants can be used to help prevent or slow infections?_

He answers again. Even if anyone walked it, they'd think he was just trying to study by himself, and his opinion of the old Lancelot goes up a notch.

Lee sits down on the edge of the bed, defeated. _There's a bomb,_ he says. _Three wires. Which one do ya cut?_

"Three wires?" He scratches JB's back. "Wot colors?"

That gets him a smile, and they continue to go back and forth, the three of them, until his answers are interspersed with yawns, and before long, he's asleep.

(This is how Merlin finds him in the morning. He doesn't see the two dead men keeping the recruit and his dog company. He doesn't hear the quiet _'fanks, Merlin_ when he nudges Eggsy out of his surprisingly deep sleep.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also yeah I lied, this one wasn't a test. Next chapter WILL be a test, though. I just knew I had to write a chapter with him at Harry's side during the whole coma thing, and this was a good place to do it


	7. Over the Shoulder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They take the first written test, and James is, of course, a horrible distraction.

Eggsy wants to _scream_.

The test itself isn't hard. Honestly, with the way he's studied, he's zooming right through most of the questions. Especially the theory questions. He knows all the steps to diffusing bombs, knows all about to treating burns and cuts in the field, and the chart of characteristics of certain poisons is something he has memorized at this point. Even the maths problems are not too terribly hard.

But James is walking around the room, weaving in between the desks and watching the recruits work over their shoulders. 

_It's fucking distracting._ The bastard isn't even trying to be quiet or subtle in any way, because he doesn't have to _actually_ worry about bothering the other recruits, and when Eggsy gave him a look at the beginning, he just winked and said, _You need to be able to work with distractions, little Eggsy._

He does his best to ignore the man. (Who is standing right in front of Roxy's desk at the moment, his head tilted at a harsh angle so that he can better read her writing upside down.) He really, _really_ tries. ( _Good girl_ , the man says, delighted, when she finally pens an answer down and flips to the next page.) If Lee were here, surely he wouldn't be doing the same thing.

On second thought, maybe it's better that his dad was checking in on his mum. (Lee liked to make faces at the other recruits as a way to try and keep Eggsy from punching their lights out when they were being jerks. Mostly it just meant Eggsy had to try and not look mental, laughing at nothing.)

He stalls at one of the equations. Fuck.

_Remember the steps, Little Eggsy. There are four,_ James says from right behind him.

His pencil clacks to the ground when he startles, and Merlin gives him an amused look. (James, the bastard, is laughing.) _Fuck._ He rolls it within reach with his foot, picks it up, and finishes the problem.

But James doesn't leave. 

_I'm bored, unfortunately,_ he says when Eggsy risks a glance.

He lets his eyes casually travel to the door next.

_But who would cheer you on if I left?_

Eggsy's very tempted to toss his pencil at the ghost, because he _knows_ it's disorienting to feel things passing through them, or at least that's how his dad felt (and if tossing the pencil back like that meant it would smack Charlie in the face, well that would be a wonderful side-effect, wouldn't it?)

James smiles cheekily as if he knows exactly what's going through Eggsy's mind. _Finish your test._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will likely involve the dogs again~


	8. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy wakes up drenched, and Lee isn't happy.

The day Charlie dumps water on him in his sleep is the day Lee stops making faces. (He starts up again a week later, but it's startling all the same.)

Suddenly it's Roxy holding him back, James telling him _it's not worth it, Little Eggsy, he's not worth this._ It's Roxy staring at him, concerned. It's James standing next to him as if he could stop Eggsy from doing something rash.

It's _Lee_ glaring at the little fuckers across the room.

Eggsy holds JB close to him, anchoring himself even as the shuddering cold threatens to send him off on them. 

_Let's go talk to Merlin,_ James says.

Eggsy glances at him. The displeasure on the man's face only serves to highlight the line down his face, and if he wasn't so used to seeing it by now, it would be fucking terrifying.

_Listen to him, Eggsy,_ Lee says tightly. 

He nods, still shaky from the cold. It's late and night, and by this point, he knows better than to assume the man is in his office.

_Eggsy?_ James says when they turn down the wrong hall. His voice is soft.

"'M goin' to Harry," he mutters. "'E'll find me there."

But Merlin's already ahead of him, sitting quietly by the bed, tablet in hand. He looks up as the door opens. "Eggsy? What happened?"

Eggsy hesitates.

_Tell him,_ James says.

Eggsy shakes his head.

_He's the fairest person I know._

But since when has that made any difference? He's got a disadvantage, just being poor, and even if Harry was willing to help him, even if Merlin didn't look at him any different, even if Roxy was happy to spend time with him -- he doubts it would do _anything_. He'd still get fucked over in the end.

"Nothin'," he says, soothing JB when he whines.

Merlin gives him a look. "Stay there."

_You can trust him,_ James says but doesn't push anymore.

They stand there for a few minutes, listening to the beep of the machines until Merlin comes back with two towels and a set of sleep clothes.

"Hand over the pup," Merlin says as he drops the bigger towel and the clothes on the bed. "You can dry off in the loo."

Although he could barely stand the damn dog days before, he's reluctant to let go of him. Especially when JB whines as he does so. Merlin shushes him, wrapping him up in the towel and cradling him to his chest, and this is the image Eggsy sees when he shuffles back into the room.

"Eggsy," Merlin says, scratching the dog's head. "I need to stop by the recruit dorm. I'm sure Harry could use your company."

"Merlin --" Fuck, he doesn't need this to blow up in his face.

"The dogs are barking," Merlin says dryly.

" _What?_ " Walking closer, Eggsy sees the feed of the dorm on the man's tablet. 

The dogs are running around and barking at nothing as the other recruits try to grab them, and though ghosts don't show up on film for him, he just _knows_ exactly what's going on. 

Eggsy smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, promise, next chapter will be the dog scene with them running. I was going to transition to that here, but I ended up making this longer than I expected.


	9. Walking the Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recruits have to run the course with their dogs. There are some obstacles.

Eggsy wakes up on a cot in Harry’s room, momentarily disoriented as to where he is. His dad is there on the edge of the bed, and sitting in a chair on the other side with JB on his lap is Merlin. 

“Good morning, Eggsy,” the man says without looking up from his tablet. He absently scratches JB’s head.

“Mornin’.”

“You might want to stretch your legs. Eat a good breakfast.”

Eggsy rubs his eyes and quirks an eyebrow. “You givin’ me hints or somethin’?” he says incredulously.

Merlin gives him a look. “Roxy might like to join you.”

Lee looks at him fondly before turning back to Eggsy and giving him a grin. _Listen to ‘im._

Without even realizing it, Eggsy nods at his dad. It’s been a long night for him (and a longer night for Harry, he thinks briefly, painfully), and he _is_ hungry, now that he thinks of it, though he’s distracted by the thought of Roxy. He winces. Roxy hadn’t done a thing wrong, but she _was_ in the room, too, wasn’t she? Did she even get any sleep? Merlin had gone down to the dorm at least four times the night before, and every single time, the dogs would quiet down for at least twenty minutes before they’d go at it again.

_Library,_ Lee says pointedly.

“What?” he mutters.

“Roxy,” Merlin says, amused.

It startles Eggsy, but he gives him a quick grin and gets off the cot. “Thanks, Merlin.”

The older man nods, gently setting a sleepy JB on the floor.

He’s out of there pretty quickly with his dad right behind him. Once they’re a few hallways away, he stops and just gives Lee a small smile, because it’s the first time he dad has ever really been able to _do_ anything for him, and he can’t help but feel so fucking _grateful_ for this ability. 

Lee winks at him and hovers a hand over Eggsy’s shoulder. _Don’ forget Roxy, yeah?_

He doesn’t. She’s curled up in one of the nooks in the library, her poodle sleeping on the floor. 

“Rox’,” he whispers as he shakes her shoulder.

“Eggsy?”

And it’s a good thing he does, too, because not long after they finish eating, Merlin comes in to tell them they’re to report outside with all the other recruits. 

Recruits who look as if they haven’t slept. Their training suits are not nearly as neat as usual, their faces are pale, and Rufus can barely stand up straight.

Eggsy’s suspicions are confirmed when James strolls over behind Charlie, who looks especially tired. He grins at the man.

_Good morning, little Eggsy,_ James says cheerfully. _Did you sleep well?_

Eggsy winks as Charlie glares.

“You’ll be running the course with your dogs today,” Merlin says. “You can’t pick them up, so I hope they’re trained.” He glances at the recruits besides Eggsy and Roxy, remembering the night before.

And of course it goes just about as well as it did then. The dogs are happy to chase after Lee, who is happy to run circles around the other recruits, not at all bothered by the exercise due to being dead, while JB and Roxy’s poodle trot after James. The man obviously knows how to train a dog, because it barely took anything for them to trust him. (Even when JB whines, tired on his tiny legs, he tries to follow James. Eggsy eventually scoops him up and runs to catch up, and he and Roxy beat the others by at least a half an hour.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene is the first one that really goes differently, I think. Some scenes won't be too different, but others will be more like this one!


	10. Ready, Aim, Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin takes the recruits to the shooting range for a gun test.

When it looks like Lee's going to rile up the dogs again, Eggsy puts his foot down. Maybe they were letting Roxy sleep fine in the library, but the cushions in the nook are not as comfortable as the beds (even though those aren't the best, either), and he likes her too damn much to see her so tired again. Not if he can _do_ anything about it. 

So they're at the shooting range, and he and Roxy are completed rested. Even he's sleeping well back in the recruit dorm after his bed was 'mysteriously' replaced that night. (He brings Merlin tea for it the next time they both visit Harry. Merlin, thankfully, just accepts the damn mug and goes back to his tablet without a word.)

The other recruits, _well_ , they're not doing so well. Their dogs may have stopped barking, but they've also stopped calmly sleeping on the floor by the bed, instead jumping up and sleeping on the recruits themselves in the middle of the night. Charlie's German Shepard is particularly fond of changing position every few minutes. The dogs wander, gnaw at their leashes, and beg for scraps. It makes Merlin _tsk_ every single time he sees it, which only makes the recruits nervous, because would they get kicked out for _this_? For _dogs_ that are so out of control? (Rufus' family breeds show dogs, and he looks to be on the verge of crying the morning his dog pees on his shoes _despite_ training. "I've never -- _where_ did they get these dogs?" he mutters, just staring at the dog.)

None of it's an excuse, however, in Merlin's eyes. He spends the whole morning looking bemused at the exhaustion on their faces. "If you don't feel up to going to the range, you _can_ take the test another time." 

But most of the recruits already have strikes against them because of the dogs, so no one actually risks it.

Eggsy smirks at Roxy.

"Confident, are you?" she says, smirking back. 

"I always 'ad good gun scores." He winks at her.

She slips her ear protection on and winks back.

Lee steps in front of Eggsy before he can do the same, grinning. _You can do this, Eggsy. I know it's been a while, but remember your training._

Eggsy smiles and nods.

_You make it sound as if it'll be hard, Lee_ , James cuts in. _Just wait until you get moving targets, little Eggsy. Merlin can be a sadistic man when he wants to be._

"Won't be bad," Eggsy mutters, finally putting the ear protection on. His reflexes and aim are good. He's not worried.

James shakes his head. _We'll see._

 

(Like expected, Eggsy's scores are the best, and Roxy's follow closely behind.

"I guess this makes us even," she says innocently.

He laughs.)


	11. Bets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy and Eggsy make a bet. (Also, Roxy isn't as oblivious as Eggsy hoped.)

An obstacle course. Eggsy laughs, while some of the other recruits grimace. This will be _easy_.

Roxy smirks. "If you're so confident, why don't we make a bet?"

He grins back. "What kind of bet? 'M all ears."

"Say, if you beat me, I'll show you how I took Rufus down during our spar yesterday."

It _was_ impressive, and he _does_ want to know just how she did it. "'N if you beat me?"

"You teach me what you know about dogs."

He quirks an eyebrow. "Thought we established I don' even know nothin' 'bout breeds or anythin'. Doesn't seem like a fair deal."

"Not facts," she says with a small frown. "You just seem to _know_ them better. You react before they bark, and they don't even go berserk as much when you're around. They even seem to like you more."

His face drops a little. Yeah, he knows when they're going to bark, because half the time it's in response to Lee or James. Them going berserk is _also_ because of his dad and his friend. The dogs only like him for them, too. Being near Eggsy meant they get more attention (even if not of the physical variety), and Eggsy himself is too much of a softie to ignore them when they actually beg him for scratches. 

"It's jus' instinct," he tells her lamely.

"No, it's not." She stares at him and shakes her head. "Deal, or no deal?"

He glances at the two ghosts standing off to the side by Merlin and weighs the risk. This _is_ his specialty. Sure, he's great with a gun, but running, jumping, climbing, and all that? He'd been doing that long before he even touched a gun for the first time.

"Deal," he says.

So when Merlin gives them the signal, he makes sure to pace himself and save his energy for when it gets rough. He shimmies up the ropes and over the wall with ease. The barbed wire gives him no trouble when he crawls underneath it. He flips himself over the smaller barriers. Roxy is just behind him or even right next to him for most of the course, but he does his best not to let it distract him. He _has_ to win this.

The best part is that Lee runs along with him. _C'mon Eggsy, a little more now._

Eggsy shoots him a quick grin before leaping over a mud pit.

_There's a deeper one ahead,_ he warns. _Wit' a log across._

And because Eggsy is on a roll already, he cartwheels across the damn thing without pause.

Lee whoops.

James laughs from his place at the finish line. _Percy's girl is on your tail, Little Eggsy. Don't forget._

"Sorry, Rox'," Eggsy shouts and runs as fast as he can over the last stretch. He slides across the line, grinning and covered in mud.

Roxy crosses seconds behind him.

"Good work you two," Merlin says, amused. "I'll allow you to clean up early for the effort."

Eggsy looks over at her and laughs at the mud smeared on her face. They're both so dirty that the pattern on their uniforms is barely recognizable. 

"Like you look any better," she teases, helping him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy keeps slipping, doesn't he? And some people are definitely noticing!
> 
> I'm thinking the next chapter will be Harry waking up


	12. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggsy and Roxy go for a run. Lee interrupts them for something important.

When Eggsy wakes up, he's very, very warm and very, very trapped. 

Something licks his forehead.

He groans and opens his eyes as three familiar voices laugh.

"Good morning, Eggsy," Roxy says. "May I have my poodle back?"

"Take 'er, _please_." Then he shoots James a sleepy glare, because _of course_ this was his doing. Or at least partly his doing -- her poodle is much more fond of James than of Lee, solely for the fact that James is quite fond of Roxy herself.

Roxy whistles, and the dog licks his arm before pulling herself out of the pile on his bed. Thankfully, the other dogs follow suit soon after, having been bothered by the shifting of the pile.

He carefully sits up and plucks JB out of the pile. Some of the others are quite big now, so it's a bit of a struggle, but JB squirms towards him, too. "Shoo," he tells the dogs still there.

Rufus' dog gives him a sad look. Charlie's licks his foot.

Eggsy pulls his leg up and groans again. 

James snickers. Lee smirks (not at _Eggsy_ , however, but at Charlie, who's getting dressed angrily across the room).

Giving in, Eggsy scratches their backs and pats their heads before getting up to get dressed himself. This isn't a weird morning, honestly. His dad and James have slowly decreased the time they spend riling the dogs up over the months in favor of encouraging them to spend more time with Eggsy, which achieves the same goal of annoying the other recruits without directly bothering Roxy.

It helps that she's amused by it rather than jealous.

"I'm going for a run before breakfast," Roxy says as he ties his shoes. "Do you feel like joining me?"

He grins.

_Do you think he'll be able to keep up this time?_ James says to Lee with an innocent look on his face.

Eggsy glances at him flatly.

Lee grins. _Well..._

"You won' beat me this time, Rox'," Eggsy says, jumping up.

"Sure, Eggsy," she says innocently.

The ghosts laugh. Eggsy grimaces.

And of course they're right, because despite his legs being longer, she still beats him by _just_ a few feet every time. This time is no different -- until they're on the last stretch. 

Lee is standing off to the side. He starts running alongside them when they pass him.

Not pausing in his stride, Eggsy glances over at him and mouths a 'what'.

_It's Harry_ , Lee says.

Eggsy stops, stares at him.

_Harry's awake._ Lee's face and voice are both neutral, and maybe Eggsy would wonder about that if he wasn't too busy reeling from his words.

"Eggsy?" Roxy shouts as she jogs back to him. "What's wrong?"

"Gotta go, Rox'." He takes off towards the closest entrance, faster than he was running before, and this time she struggles to catch up.

Lee follows slowly.

"Eggsy, what --" 

The sight of Eggsy nearly running into Merlin stops her. The older man isn't running when they almost collide, but he _is_ walking very fast. (What she doesn't see is James warning Eggsy right before it happens and therefore saving him a few bruises.)

"Eggsy?" Merlin says, steadying the younger man with a hand.

"Harry's awake," Eggsy blurts out. "Isn't he?"

Merlin nods after a pause. "I can notify you when he's ready to see you."

" _Fuck that._ " He pulls away from Merlin and strides down the hall towards Harry's room. (He's grateful when the man lets him.)

_He's not ready to see anyone,_ James says with a distinctly amused look on his face as they both reach the door. His eyes, however, are more serious, more observant. _But I'm sure he'll make an exception for you._

Eggsy walks right through him. "Harry?"

"Eggsy?" the man whose bedside he's slept by, worried by, and _nearly fucking cried by_ says from the bathroom door, the lower half of his face covered in shaving cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some more Harry! Next chapter will pick up right where this one left off ;)


	13. A Lesson in Shaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's bemused, and Eggsy doesn't quite think things through.
> 
> Directly follows the last drabble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever! I've had a lot of rl stuff getting in the way of my writing lately, unfortunately

"What're you _doin'_?" Eggsy says with a frown.

Harry blinks at him. "Eggsy --"

"You just woke up, yeah? _How_ are you even up? Get back in the bed."

In the background, James snickers. Eggsy ignores it.

The shaving cream partially hides Harry's bemused smile. "All I've done the last few months is lie in that bed, you know."

"Doesn't mean you can -- can take a bloody blade to your face. _Christ_ , Harry, a straight razor?"

_Like Bond_ , James butts in, the corners of his mouth twitching up. The movement highlights the split down the middle of them, but at this point, Eggsy's not bothered by it.

"It's a close shave," Harry says.

Eggsy rolls his eyes at both of the older men in the room. "Give it here, then."

The thing is that Harry is _still_ so bemused by the younger man in front of him scolding him for being, _perhaps_ , reckless that he just hands the razor over (and ignores the fact that Merlin had raised some of the same concerns earlier, of course) and moves back into the bathroom. 

_Do you even know how to use one of those?_ James says dryly.

Eggsy gives him a quick look before following Harry. But he _doesn't_ know. Harry looks at him patiently, and all he can do is stand there and squint, aware that if he fucks up here, he could _really_ fuck up. Like, accidentally-killing-Harry fuck up.

_Sharpen it_ , James tells him from the doorway. _Use the strip of fabric -- the strop. Hold it tight when you do._

He takes it fairly slow, though he gets more confident when the ghost nods approvingly. (The look in Harry's eyes helps, too. It's the same look the man had when Eggsy mentioned _My Fair Lady_.)

_Now, Little Eggsy, you need very little pressure. Smooth strokes along the grain, and the blade is sharp enough to do the job with only a bit of guidance. Draw the side of his face up first._

Harry tilts his head automatically as Eggsy slowly shaves him, stroke by stroke, and gives the younger man a quick smile before rinsing his face at the end. "Thank you, Eggsy," he says as he splashes on some aftershave.

_Practice will make perfect,_ James adds. The bastard's smirking. 

It's a good thing that Eggsy can't actually punch him. 

"Aye, Eggsy, thank you," Merlin says, almost startling him. "I was sure he'd need a few more stitches after this."

"I've been idle long enough," Harry grumbles.

"All the more reason _not_ to jump into action right away."

_They haven' changed_ , Lee mutters, and Eggsy notices him there behind Merlin for the first time. 

James laughs, but Lee doesn't. He's too busy watching his son. Eggsy looks back at him, unsure of what his dad is feeling for one of the first times in his life. 

"Lad," Merlin says to catch his attention. "Harry's due for a few tests, and I'm sure Roxy is waiting for you."

He gets the hint, of course, though he also notices that the man's reluctance to force him out of the room, and it reminds him of how easily Merlin let him by to get to the room before. It's why he nods instead of complaining. "See ya, Harry, Merlin."

The door closes on Harry's smile.

"And?" Roxy says from her place against the wall. 

"He's up," Eggsy says with a shrug. It almost doesn't feel real, honestly, because Harry's been in that damn coma for _months_.

She gives him an unimpressed look before rolling her eyes. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to get back into a schedule with this fic, posting a chapter at least once a week. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best :)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been toying with this idea for a while. Tell me what you think!


End file.
